postfix configuration must be set on 24.04 before apt package manager can be used

[William Hatheway]

When trying to set up a new 24.04 installation and use the following commands, you MUST configure postfix even if it is not installed.

sudo -S apt -y install autoconf automake bison build-essential byacc cmake csh curl default-jdk default-jre emacs flex g++ gawk gcc gfortran git ksh libcurl4-openssl-dev libjpeg-dev libncurses6 libpixman-1-dev libpng-dev libtool libxml2 libxml2-dev m4 make ncview okular openbox pipenv pkg-config python3 python3-dev python3-pip python3-dateutil tcsh unzip xauth xorg time

Even using the askubuntu help page about installing it and purging it did not make the bug go away. You have to set up and install postfix to use apt.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1192156/how-to-completely-erase-postfix

I expect that the postfix prompt wouldn't show up like I would see in 22.04.

Only in 24.04 does this happen.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: postfix (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-31.31-generic 6.8.1
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-31-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun May 12 19:23:17 2024
InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-05-12 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240424)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 TERM=xterm-256color
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
SourcePackage: postfix
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

it is important to know that postfix is not installed on my system and yet it still pops up as part of the apt issue.

[Balder Lindblom (cellisten)]

I am seeing the same issue. Unfortunately, this is blocking me from rolling out 24.04 at all

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Balder Lindblom (cellisten)]

In my case postfix tries to autodetect myhostname (which it does incorrectly) and that breaks the entire installation

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

Yeah same

On Mon, May 13, 2024, 8:10 AM Balder Lindblom <email address hidden>
wrote:

> I am seeing the same issue. Unfortunately, this is blocking me from
> rolling out 24.04 at all
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065546
>
> Title:
> postfix configuration must be set on 24.04 before apt package manager
> can be used
>
> Status in postfix package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> When trying to set up a new 24.04 installation and use the following
> commands, you MUST configure postfix even if it is not installed.
>
> sudo -S apt -y install autoconf automake bison build-essential byacc
> cmake csh curl default-jdk default-jre emacs flex g++ gawk gcc
> gfortran git ksh libcurl4-openssl-dev libjpeg-dev libncurses6
> libpixman-1-dev libpng-dev libtool libxml2 libxml2-dev m4 make ncview
> okular openbox pipenv pkg-config python3 python3-dev python3-pip
> python3-dateutil tcsh unzip xauth xorg time
>
> Even using the askubuntu help page about installing it and purging it
> did not make the bug go away. You have to set up and install postfix
> to use apt.
>
> https://askubuntu.com/questions/1192156/how-to-completely-erase-
> postfix
>
> I expect that the postfix prompt wouldn't show up like I would see in
> 22.04.
>
> Only in 24.04 does this happen.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
> Package: postfix (not installed)
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-31.31-generic 6.8.1
> Uname: Linux 6.8.0-31-generic x86_64
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
> ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3
> Architecture: amd64
> CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
> CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
> Date: Sun May 12 19:23:17 2024
> InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-05-12 (0 days ago)
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64
> (20240424)
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> PATH=(custom, no user)
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> TERM=xterm-256color
> XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
> SourcePackage: postfix
> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/postfix/+bug/2065546/+subscriptions
>
>

[Lucas Kanashiro (lucaskanashiro)]

Hi William,

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and trying to make Ubuntu better.

As software evolves it may require new dependencies and that is the case here, one of the packages you are installing now has postfix in its dependencies tree. This is not a bug, this may happen in a new release.

What you can do to avoid the prompt is setting the DEBIAN_FRONTEND environment variable to 'noninteractive' when calling apt and the default values will be used.

Marking this bug as Invalid as this is not a bug, but a change behavior that is expected between releases.

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

What you can do to avoid the prompt is setting the DEBIAN_FRONTEND
environment variable to 'noninteractive' when calling apt and the
default values will be used.

how would I do this?

On Tue, May 14, 2024 at 5:30 AM Lucas Kanashiro <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Hi William,
>
> Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and trying to make Ubuntu
> better.
>
> As software evolves it may require new dependencies and that is the case
> here, one of the packages you are installing now has postfix in its
> dependencies tree. This is not a bug, this may happen in a new release.
>
> What you can do to avoid the prompt is setting the DEBIAN_FRONTEND
> environment variable to 'noninteractive' when calling apt and the
> default values will be used.
>
> Marking this bug as Invalid as this is not a bug, but a change behavior
> that is expected between releases.
>
> ** Changed in: postfix (Ubuntu)
> Status: Confirmed => Invalid
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2065546
>
> Title:
> postfix configuration must be set on 24.04 before apt package manager
> can be used
>
> Status in postfix package in Ubuntu:
> Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> When trying to set up a new 24.04 installation and use the following
> commands, you MUST configure postfix even if it is not installed.
>
> sudo -S apt -y install autoconf automake bison build-essential byacc
> cmake csh curl default-jdk default-jre emacs flex g++ gawk gcc
> gfortran git ksh libcurl4-openssl-dev libjpeg-dev libncurses6
> libpixman-1-dev libpng-dev libtool libxml2 libxml2-dev m4 make ncview
> okular openbox pipenv pkg-config python3 python3-dev python3-pip
> python3-dateutil tcsh unzip xauth xorg time
>
> Even using the askubuntu help page about installing it and purging it
> did not make the bug go away. You have to set up and install postfix
> to use apt.
>
> https://askubuntu.com/questions/1192156/how-to-completely-erase-
> postfix
>
> I expect that the postfix prompt wouldn't show up like I would see in
> 22.04.
>
> Only in 24.04 does this happen.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
> Package: postfix (not installed)
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-31.31-generic 6.8.1
> Uname: Linux 6.8.0-31-generic x86_64
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
> ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3
> Architecture: amd64
> CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
> CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
> Date: Sun May 12 19:23:17 2024
> InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-05-12 (0 days ago)
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64
> (20240424)
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> PATH=(custom, no user)
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> TERM=xterm-256color
> XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
> SourcePackage: postfix
> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/postfix/+bug/2065546/+subscriptions
>
>

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

Also Lucas,

Why isn't that variable set to noninteractive from the get go like it is in 22.04

[Balder Lindblom (cellisten)]

Postfix isn't installed in 22.04. I am using noninteractive and it instead bugs out based on the hostname containing a . in the beginning.
@Lucas, I am fully aware that some packages might require postfix. I would very much want to know which one though. Running an email server is serious business and having it installed without it working hardly brings any benefit right?

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

Perhaps postfix needs to be part of the installation gui when initialized if it is turned on by default or turned on and set up after installation on the welcome screen?

because right now it's killing installation on several machines I managed

[Sergio Durigan Junior (sergiodj)]

Hi William,

The culprit for pulling in postfix when installing the set of packages you mentioned in the description is Emacs. This is a side effect of a change that I made when I last merged the last version from Debian, in an attempt to reduce the delta and make it possible to eventually sync Emacs again.

There are a few ways you can workaround this issue.

1) You can invoke apt using "--no-install-recommends" when installing Emacs. This will prevent apt from installing the packages that Emacs recommended, and mailutils (which actually installs postfix) is one of them.

2) As Lucas said above, you can define the DEBIAN_FRONTEND environment variable to "noninteractive". You can do it like:

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt install ....

Note that the DEBIAN_FRONTEND variable was *not* set on Jammy either; the problem here relies solely on the fact that Emacs started recommending mailutils (like it does in Debian), instead of suggesting it.

I will add an Emacs task to the bug, but I consider this a wishlist and believe that it should be raised with Debian first. Could you open a bug against the Debian Emacs package and let us know when you do it, please?

Thank you.

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

Could you open a bug against the Debian Emacs package and let us know when you do it, please? @sergio

how do i do that?

[Sergio Durigan Junior (sergiodj)]

Hello William,

You can find instructions on how to report a bug against a Debian package here: https://www.debian.org/Bugs/Reporting

Thanks.

[Balder Lindblom (cellisten)]

By using the debconf values from a 'no configuration' postfix install I have now managed to get postfix installed during an noninteractive install.

[Scott Kitterman (kitterman)]

There's no postfix bug described here.

[William Hatheway (hathewaywill)]

@sergio

bug submitted to debian

[Athos Ribeiro (athos-ribeiro)]

Thanks, William. Could you include the Debian bug number or URL here for tracking purposes?